Alcohol.

"Alcoholic joys are brief--the results are lasting."

-Anonymous

"There's nothing more stubborn than a drunkard trying to convince you he isn't."

-Anonymous

"Alcohol is used by a majority of the adult population and creates more problems than all other drugs combined."

-Robert Elliot

"Wine produces mockers; liquor leads to brawls. Whoever is led astray by drink cannot be wise."

-Proverbs 20:1 NLT

I grew up in a home where the refrigerator always contained a plentiful supply of alcohol: wine, whiskey, and beer. Mom and dad drank every day. It was not unusual for me to see my dad drinking beer at breakfast time and he always drank when he was home in the evenings watching TV. There were some evening when dad didn't make it home and mom, my brothers and I would go to York to find him in a bar and remind him it was time to go home.

Fortunately, when dad was drunk he was a mild-mannered gentleman who would literally give you the shirt off of his back. I never saw mom drunk but she did drink on a regular basis.

Yes, I am familiar with alcohol.

As I said, mom and dad drank on a regular basis.

My dad rolled his pick-up truck three times while drunk and walked about three miles home with a few bruised ribs.

Any time my brothers or I had a toothache or sore in our mouths, the remedy was to hold a mouthful of whiskey until the pain was gone. Believe me, after a few minutes, someone could have amputated my leg without so much as a whimper! And I didn't even swallow the stuff!

There were nights when my brothers and I would fall asleep in tears listening to mom and dad argue while drinking. During those times I would hear, "@#*x* Glenn, if it weren't for the boys I'd leave you." Then a door would slam. Thankfully, mom never left and in the morning all was well again.

My younger brother, Terry was killed instantly when a drunk driver hit him head-on driving 75 miles an hour on the wrong side of the road. The speed limit was 35. The drunk ran away.

My cardiologist and his ten-year-old son were killed by a drunk driver.

My niece's boyfriend was stabbed to death coming out of a bar in Atlanta. " . . . liquor leads to brawls." In this case, death, pain, and all the grief of going through a trial.

Get the picture? I have had the influence of alcohol on my life. However, I have never had the influence of alcohol in my life. I never drank. I decided, because of how things were in my home, three things would never happen in mine: I would never drink and alcohol would never be in my home, I would never smoke, and I would never use God's name in vain. I made these choices as a lost, unchurched child because I did not want those things in the lives of my kids.

Now I know you'll think I'm crazy but if I could live my life over again there is absolutely no question who I would have for my mom and dad next time: Glenn Brenneman Shettel and Romaine Louella Shettel. That's right! The same parents. There was one thing in our home that was far greater than alcohol, cigarette smoke, and cursing: the love of my mom and dad for their three boys. So in spite of the influence of alcohol, cigarettes, and cursing, I had the greatest parents I could ever have because of their love and almost constant encouragement. I also knew that mom and dad loved one another. Someone said, "The greatest gift a dad can give his kids is to love their mother." Dad did that. Thanks dad.

Some kids aren't as fortunate. The alcohol in their homes leads them to drink like mom and dad. It may cause fights, cruelty, poverty, pain, and even death. Proverbs 20:1b says, "Whoever is led astray by drink cannot be wise." Those who do not drink are wise; those who drink are unwise or foolish.

Take a look at the comparison in Ephesians 5:18, "Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you." Why do you suppose being drunk was the chosen comparison for this verse? Because a drunk does things he normally doesn't do, goes places he normally doesn't go, and says things he normally doesn't say. If we want to be drunk then God says get filled with his Holy Spirit! Why? Because then we will do things we normally wouldn't do, we'll go places we normally wouldn't go, and we'll say things we normally wouldn't say, and without a stagger and a slur! We would do godly things we normally wouldn't do!

Whenever we choose to believe and obey the Scriptures, we choose also to be led through life by God's wisdom. Sure beats the alternative route offered by alcohol. It's a choice again: Foolishness or wisdom. And wisdom comes without a hangover and all that other painful baggage.